Reply to "Teacher of the Year" quits over Common Core tests

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
The bottom line is that people are really sick of paying for tests instead of for instruction.

Here's what the public sees:

Schools that are overcrowded.  Classrooms that are overcrowded.  A total lack of money for hands on and vocationally oriented courses (because everyone is going to college now).  More "testing" that is supposed to make students better how?  By forcing the teachers to be pressured to teach to "standards".  By creating an atmosphere where teachers are to blame for the students' lack of success.  Parents and students are beginning to figure it out and so finally they are pushing back (opt outs for starters).

I would not discount the power of the teachers, students, and parents.  They know that they are being snookered.  Tests will never drive instruction.  People are not motivated by tests and "data".  Without buy in from teachers and parents, the whole thing is a sham.  The pro CC people want to believe that teachers support them, but the truth is far different.

And, instead of paring back the tests, there are now more.  More hours of testing because if it wasn't working, it must be because there was not enough of it or it wasn't "implemented" correctly.  NO.  The pro CC people can't see the forest for the trees.

The people are speaking.  The people get this.  It's becoming loud and clear.  [/quote]

Getting rid of testing wouldn't solve any of that.  NCLB has a federal mandate, so that's why money is being allocated.  If NCLB goes away, so does the money.  It doesn't magically keep flowing and simply get reprogrammed.  There are lots of schools that rock standardized testing WITHOUT teaching to the test and WITHOUT spending inordinate amounts of time on test prep - because they pay attention to curriculum and content.  If schools are having to spend large amounts of time on test prep that's probably a big indicator that they have a lot of problems elsewhere - with curriculum and content in particular, which simply getting rid of tests is not going to solve.

I agree that we need more vocational training but that doesn't mean there's no need for standards, either.  Even in vocational programs, you still need core language and math skills.  Even in vocational programs, people still need to be able to read and write effectively, they need to be able to write things like proposals and reports, they need to be able to read and comprehend contracts and installation instructions, and they need enough math and things like basic algebra and geometry to figure out cost estimates, work out angles and measurements for fabrication, et cetera.  Common Core isn't pushing for anything that esoteric, they aren't demanding proficiency in eigenvectors and multivariate statistics, what Common Core is striving for is still very much relevant and appropriate to vocational training.

If the people are "being snookered" then where's the actual evidence for that?  Where is the data?  Where are the studies?  [/quote]

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